Joel Feinberg on Crime and Punishment: Exploring the Relationship between the Moral Limits of the Criminal Law and the Expressive Function of Punishment

Abstract

When I was originally approached to participate in this Symposium on the work and legacy of Joel Feinberg, I immediately began thinking about the influence of his essay The Expressive Function of Punishment on contemporary criminal law theory in the United States. That essay has contributed significantly to a growing body of scholarship associated with the resurgence of interest in expressive theories of law. In the criminal law area, the expressivist movement traces directly and foremost to Feinberg’s essay. As Carol Steiker observes, “Joel Feinberg